As the tech-driven stock boom continued into 2024, one tech stock has noticeably lagged.

Sony Group Corp. (NYSE:SONY), a Japanese conglomerate and maker of the PlayStation series, has seen its stock fall about 6.5% year to date. Analysts are blaming the fall in large part due to the underperformance of its PlayStation unit.

In its most recent earnings announcement, Sony shared that the PlayStation 5 was in the "latter half" of its cycle. 

While Sony was still able to post record revenue, it disclosed that it now expects to sell 21 million units of the PlayStation 5 for the fiscal year ending in March, down from a previous estimate of 25 million units.

The news helps explain why Sony recently announced layoffs of 8% of its PlayStation division's global workforce.

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Sony's former PlayStation boss, Shawn Layden, remains unconcerned about the long-term prospects, saying, “The demise of the industry has been predicted so many times in the last 20 years that it's almost a joke. We’re fine."

Despite the layoffs, Sony's leadership aims to continue the company's long-term growth trajectory. "It has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company," said Jim Ryan, CEO of the PlayStation unit.

It should be noted that Sony is not alone in the gaming sector slowdown. Other gaming companies have also announced layoffs recently, including Unity Software Inc. (NYSE:U), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), and Microsoft Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) gaming division. 

For investors interested in the gaming space, the public stock market isn't the only place to find opportunities.

Thanks to equity crowdfunding, regular people can invest in startups for as little as a couple hundred dollars.

One of the startups making waves in the gaming space is Gameflip, which created a marketplace for gamers. 

Historically, gamers never truly owned the billions of dollars they spent in games. When the player transitioned to a new game or platform, the value of their buys disappeared and could not be transferred to someone else.

Gameflip is solving that problem and has significant traction to prove its concept. Since its founding in 2014, it has gained a user base of more than 6.75 million players with over $160 million in lifetime sales.

For as low as $250, investors can invest in Gameflip on StartEngine while it remains a private company.

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